Hide gripper jaw for hide puller



Oct. 4, 1960 c. o. SCHMIDT, JR

HIDE GRIPPER JAW FOR HIDE FULLER Original Filed June 8, 1956 4 SheetsSheet 1 INVE NTOR. CARL OSCAR SCHMIDT, JR BY ATTORNE Oct: 4, 1960 c. o. SCHMIDT, JR

HIDE GRIPPER JAW FOR HIDE FULLER Original Filed June 8. 1.956

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 m W W N CARL 0504/? 50/1/1007, JR. BY

AHDRNEY Oct. 4, 1960 c. o. SCHMIDT, JR 2,954,973

HIDE GRIPPER JAW FOR HIDE FULLER Original Filed June'B, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR.

CARL OSCAR SCHMIDT, JR.

BY W A TORNE.

Oct. 4, 1960 HIDE GRIPPER JAW FOR HIDE} FULLER Original Filed June 8. 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 5a 5 75 74 67 5e 6| 68 so IN V EN TOR. CARL OSCAR SCH/WOT, JR!

c. o. SCHMIDT, JR- 2,954,973

HIDE GRIPPER JAW FOR HIDE PULLER Carl Oscar Schmidt, Jr., Wyoming, Ohio, assignor to The Cincinnati Butchers Supply Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application June 8, 1956, Ser. No. 590,166,

now Patent No. 2,897,537, dated Aug. 4, 1959. Divided and this application Mar. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 801,982

8 Claims. (Cl. 269-189) This application is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 590,166, filed June 8, 1956, now Patent No. 2,897,537 dated August 4, 1959.

This invention relates to a hide stripping apparatus, such asmay be employed in modern meat packing plants. In the stripping of hides from meat animals, care is exercised to ensure the production of hides in perfect condition, that is, without rips, marks, or defacements which would depreciate the value of the hides in the manufacture of leather and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus for the stripping of hides, operating with speed and effectiveness to produce saleable hides in the best possible condition, without the employment of highly skilled labor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gripping device or jaw adapted to securely though releasably engage the edges of a hide to be pulled from a carcass.

Another object is to provide a hide stripping apparatus of improved design, which is comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, yet highly eifective and reliable in its function of producing uninjured high quality hides at a production rate of operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character stated, which is designed for operation with great facility and effectiveness and with due regard for the safety and well-being of the operator.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and illustrated upon the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of the present invention, shown in extended position for bracing a carcass preparatory to stripping of the hide therefrom.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the Fig. 1 disclosure, partly broken away and in cross section, showing the hide grippers in two different stages of operation.

States Patent Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged top and side elevational views, respectively, of a hide gripper shown in open-jaw position, parts being shown in cross-section.

Figs. 5 and 6 are top and sideelevational views, respectively, similar to Figs. 3 and 4, and "on the same scale, showing the hide gripper in a preliminary gripping condition.

Figs. 7 and 8 are top and side elevational views, respectively, similar to Figs. 3 and 4, and on the same scale, showing the hide gripper in a final gripping condition.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 99 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 10--10 of Fig. 5.

In the modern meat packing plant, it is customary to hang the carcasses from an overhead moving conveyor, and thereby bring the carcasses one by, one to various stations or locations at which difierent degrees of finishing are performed until finally the meat and the by-products are processed to commercial form. While 2 suspended from the overhead conveyor, the carcasses are spaced apart a distance sufilcient to allow for certain manipulations individually, as may be necessary in carrying the process to completion. One of the manipulations is that of stripping the hide from the carcass, and this operation concerns the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows a carcass 20 suspended, as above explained, by means of a chain or other hanger 15 applied to a hind leg 16 in customary manner. The hanger is one of many depending in spaced relation from any ordinary moving conveyor of the overhead type, designed to advance the carcasses past various stations at which some phase of finishing work is performed upon each carcass. At the stripping station, or perhaps in advance thereof, the carcass is to be prepared for machine stripping, by a workman who manually loosens the hide from all the legs, slits the hide along the belly from end to end, and preliminarily severs the hide from the animal at opposite sides of the slit to provide the flaps 17 and 18 shown upon Fig. 2. The carcass is thusly prepared for introduction to the hide stripping apparatus. The stripping operation involves, briefly, grasping the hide flaps 17 and 18 and pulling them toward and beyond the backbone, while the backbone is supported against a back rest 19.

The foregoing explanation reveals generally the strip ping process and the function of the stripping apparatus. Follows now a detailed description of the hide gripper apparatus as disclosed in the accompanying drawings.

Attention is now directed to the grippers 42, of which two are shown in Fig. 2 mounted upon the forward beam of the carriage by means of pivotal connections 55 and 56, which permit free swinging movement of the grippers bodily in a horizontal plane. As the grippers are identical, an explanation of one will sufiice for the other also. With reference to Fig. 3, the gripper is seen to comprise a primary jaw 57 and a secondary jaw 58, which may be brought together as in Figs. 5 and 7 for grasping and holding a hide 18. The jaws may be provided with transverse co-operative bars 60 arranged in staggered relationship to best hold the hide by folding it, as in Fig. 5, rather than by penetrating or piercing it and thereby reducing the value of the hide.

The primary jaw 57 is securely fixed, as by welding, to one end 62 of a slide bar 61. At the opposite end 63 the slide bar carries an encircling compression spring 64, the outermost end of which spring abuts a collar 65 or equivalent stop member fixed to the extremity of bar end 63. At a point intermediate the ends of slide bar 61, there is fixed by means of a pin 66 or equivalent fastener, a transverse bifurcated guide block 67 which carries a pivot member 68 rockingly supporting a latch member or lever 70. At a location removed from the pivotal mounting 68, the latch member has formed therein a transverse notch 71 adapted to engage and disengage a latch pin 72, as will presently be explained.

The body element of the gripper may comprise a mounting bracket 73 having at one end the pivot means 56, and at its opposite end a relatively heavy transverse plate 74 welded or otherwise joined at right angles to the bracket member 73. This plate furnishes a base or mount for a single-acting hydraulic cylinder 75 the piston rod 76 of which carries the secondary grip jaw 58. The cylinder may be secured to plate 74 in any suitable manner, as by means of bolts 77 passing through the plate and the heads of the cylinder. The plate 74 may be furnished with an extending boss 78, from which projects the fixed latch pin or part 72 to be engaged by lever 70. The cylinder 75, slide bar 61, bracket member 73 and latch lever 70 are all arranged in substantial parallelare parallel to one another. A loop bar 80 welded or otherwise fixed to the slide bar and to the jaw 57 reinforces the jaw and provides a handle to be grasped in manipulating the gripper. 7

The slide bar 61 is mounted for limited reciprocation, without rotation relative to mounting plate 74, and means to preclude rotation of the bar relative to the plate, is hereinafter described. Accordingly, the upstanding arms 8181 of the bifurcated guide block 67 are adapted to embrace loosely, and slidingly, the opposite faces of bracket 73 to enable shifting of block 67 from the Fig. 3 position to the Fig. 5 position, as the slide bar reciprocates relative to plate 74. In its axial movement, the slide bar 61 may be supported by an apertured bearing lug 82 welded or otherwise fixed to bracket 73, the aperture 83 thereof being slidingly receptive of the round section of the slide bar. As will beunderstood, the compressionspring 64 acts constantly against collar 65 and lug 82, to urge the slide bar to the right, or to position for closing the jaws 5'7 and 58.

A second bearing or channel 84, provided in ,plate 74, slidably supports the bar 61 at a distance from hearing lug 82. As indicated upon Fig. 16, the bearing 34 may be rectangularin form. to accommodate the angular shape of the slide bar forwardly of block 67. The opposite ends of slide bar 61 are made round and rec- 'tangular in cross-section only by preference, and not of necessity, and it will readily be understood that the structure would be operative irrespective of the crosssectional shape of the bar. It is necessary only that the slide bar be supported for reciprocation, without rotation, relative to the bracket member 73.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, it may be noted that the jaws are open, and slide bar 61 is advanced in the direction of handle brace 80 with the spring 64 under compression. The parts are to be so held in a cooked relationship, by the latch lever 70 in the manner best indicated upon Fig. 4. As long as the latch lever notch 71 is engaged with pin 72, the jaws will be held open as shown, with spring 64 under compression.

If it be desired to apply the gripper to a hide 18, as in Figs. 5 and 6, the operator need only insert a margin of the hide between the jaws .57 and 58, and trip the latch lever 70 upwardly as shown in Fig. 6, to release the pin 72. This frees the slide bar and permits spring 64 to draw the slide bar 61 to the right, or to closing position of the gripper jaws. The cam edge 69 of the latch lever will thereupon rest on pin 72, with the notch '71 disposed to one side and out of engagement with the pin. The relationship of parts thusly established may be referred to as the preliminary gripping condition, as distinguished from a final or full gripping condition of the device, de picted by Figs. 7 and 8.

To produce the final or fullgripping condition above mentioned, and as shown by Figs. 7 and 8, the operator of the machine manipulates acontrol lever which'eifects delivery of fluid under pressure to the rear end 86 of hydraulic cylinder 75, thereby to project the piston rod 76 and jaw 58 for increasing the gripping force at the jaws. The force of piston rod advancement is suflicient to shift the slide bar 61 to the left, in opposition to the force of spring 64, until finally the latch lever notch 71 reaches pin 72 and drops into registry therewith. Once the latch lever engages the pin 72, the mechanism is cocked for a. subsequent operation. Under the conditions above explained, the full power of piston rod 76 is .delivered to the gripping jaws, thus placingthemin what may be termed the full or final gripping condition.

Now, if the fluid pressure in the cylinder of Fig. 7 is relieved, the jaw 58 will be retracted by the piston rod, while the jaw 57 remains static as held by engagement of the latch 70. The hide therefore will be released, and the gripper elements will be found disposed in the original cooked relationship depicted by Figs. .3 and 4, ready for subsequent reception of a hide flap. The cocked condition of the gripper is shown in Fig. 2 near the hide flap 18, whereas at the hide flap 17 the gripper is shown in the preliminary gripping position just prior to actuation of the hydraulic cylinder. In the latter condition, the latch means '70 is disengaged, as in Fig. 6. It will be appreciatedffrom the foregoing explanation that "a preliminary gripping of the hide iselfected simply and instantly by the mere tripping of leverj70 while the operator inserts the hide flap between the gripper jaws. The

7 operator then is free to move the side of the machine for manipulating the several control levers 35,53 and 87.

It may here be noted that the gripper cylinders at opposite sides of the carcass are of the single-acting type, with spring-return action. That is, fluid under pressure entering the rear of the cylinder, at 86 of Fig. 7, will project the piston rod 76 in opposition to the force of a spring within the cylinder, which tends always to retract the piston rod. Accordingly, aslong as fluid pressure is kept applied to the piston within the cylinder, the rod will hold the jaw 58 against the hide flap 18 with a force dependent upon the pressure of fluid delivered to the cylinder. immediately upon relief of fluid pressure. within the cylinder, by draining the fluid back to the unit 28, the spring within the cylinder will act to retract the piston rod 76 and the clamp jaw58 associated therewith.

In line with the above explanation, the apparatus may be provided with a slide valve 88, Fig. 1, which controls flow of fluid of pressure unit 28, by manipulation of control lever 87 in substantially the manner previously recited in explaining the function of levers 3S and 53. Flexible tubes, not shown, lead from the two hydraulic cylinders, 75 and are coupled to the pressure unit 28. The arrangement may be such that swinging the control lever 87 to shift the valve 88 in one direction, will supply fluid under pressure to the gripper cylinders 75 for closing the jaws to final position. On the other hand, swinging the same control lever in the opposite direction will relieve the cylinders 75, and permit their enclosed springs to open the jaws and release the hide flaps. This arrangement is very simple and easily understood, requiring no detailed disclosure.

The operation of the device is as follows: A carcass such as 26, hanging from a conveyor, is broughtto the front of the machine. Then, as depicted by Figs, 1 and 2, the carriage may be manually projected along the rails 30to place the back rest 19 against the spinal area, while the grippers 42, 42 assume positions at opposite sides of the carcass. The grippers are adjustable to the size of the carcass, by reason of the pivotal mountings on the carriage at 55 and 56. The jaws of the grippers will be found open or separated, but-spring-cocked as in Fig. 3, enabling the operator to insert a hide flap into the jaws of each gripper and then manually trip the latch levers -70 to preliminarily hold the hide flaps.

The next step in the procedure is to manipulate the control lever 87 for actuating the gripper cylinders in unisomto fully grip the hide flaps while .re-cocking the grippers as previously explained. Then the operator may manipulate the second control lever 53 to activate cylin d er 43, for projecting the piston rod, displacing the carnage andstripping the major portion of the hide from the carcass. Finally, said control levers 53 and 87 would be restored to normal position by the operator, for retracting the carriage piston 44 and opening the jaws of the gripper,

actual usage it contributes substantially to uniformity and regularitym the stripping procedure, with great savings of time and effort realized. The device is durable, reliable, and serviceable, and meets all requirements for uninterrupted production operation economically and with maximum safety. Finally, it will be appreciated that the apparatus as disclosed is subject to various modifications and changes in structural details, within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A gripping and pulling device com-prising in combination, a bracket member including a mounting plate having a bearing formed therein, an elongate nonrotative slide bar reciprocable in the bearing of the bracket member, and a primary clamp jaw on one end of the slide bar transversely thereof, a secondary clamp jaw supported by the mounting plate, and including means to selectively advance and retract the secondary clamp jaw relative to the primary jaw, yielding means constantly operative to shift the slide bar for urging the primary jaw toward and into contact with the secondary jaw, and releasable latch means operative normally to hold the primary jaw in position retracted from the secondary jaw, in opposition to the force of the yielding means, said .latch means, when released, restoring the slide bar to the influence of the yielding means to shift the primary jaw toward the secondary jaw.

2. The device as specified in claim 1, wherein the latch means is self-reengaging at a predetermined position of the primary jaw relative to the mounting plate, and the selective means for moving the secondary jaw is sufficiently powerful to displace the primary jaw, in opposition to the force of the yielding means, to establish the position of the primary jaw at which the latch means reengages.

3. A gripping and pulling device comprising in combination, a bracket member including a mounting plate having a bearing, and an elongate slide bar mounted in the bearing for reciprocation between two limits, yielding means acting constantly in one direction to move the slide bar toward one limit of travel, and means performing as a stop to limit the slide bar travel in the opposite direction, a manually releasable latch operative whenever the slide bar is disposed to the limit last mentioned, for holding said slide bar in restraint against the force of the yielding means, a primary clamp jaw fixed to the slide bar for movement therewith, a secondary clamp jaw to register with the primary clamp jaw, means mounting the secondary clamp jaw upon the mounting plate for movement toward and from the primary jaw, and power means operative to advance the secondary jaw into contact with the primary jaw, and to move the latter along with the slide bar, to the limit of travel determined by the stop means.

4. A gripping and pulling device comprising in combination, a bracket member including a mounting plate having a bearing, and an elongate slide bar mounted in the bearing for reciprocation from a cocked position to an opposed free position, yielding means acting constantly in one direction to move the slide bar to the free position, means performing as a stop to limit movement of Said bar to the cocked position, a manually releasable latch operative whenever the slide bar is disposed in the cocked position, for holding said bar in restraint against the force of the yielding means, a primary clamp jaw fixed on the slide bar, a secondary clamp jaw to register with the primary jaw, means mounting the secondary clamp jaw for movement toward and from the primary clamp jaw, and power means operative upon the secondary clamp jaw to displace the primary jaw while moving the slide bar to the cocked position.

5. A gripping and pulling device comprising in combination, a bracket member including a mounting plate having a bearing, an elongate non-rotative slide bar reciprocable in the bearing of the bracket member, and a primary clamp jaw fixed at one end of the slide bar transversely thereof, a secondary clamp jaw to register with the primary jaw, means including a power cylinder on the mounting plate for selectively advancing and retracting the secondary clamp jaw relative to the primary jaw, a block fixed to the slide bar for movement therewith, and a manually displaceable latch lever pivoted on the block, said latch lever having a cam edge with a notch formed therein, a fixed pin extending from the mounting plate in position to ride upon the cam edge and enter the notch of the lever upon movement of the slide bar longitudinally, a spring on the slide bar including means to constantly urge said bar to a limit of reciprocation at which the latch lever notch engages the pin for holding the slide bar in cocked position, with the primary jaw withdrawn from the secondary jaw, so that manual displacement of the latch lever about its pivot releases the pin and frees the slide bar for movement under the power of the spring, to advance the primary jaw into engagement with the secondary jaw, the power cylinder means being of sufficient power and stroke capacity to advance the secondary jaw against the primary jaw and to move the latter, with the slide bar, to the cocked position at which the latch lever notch re-engages the pin for subsequent manual displacement of the latch lever.

6. The device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the bracket member includes an arm extending transversely of the mounting plate, and the block which'is fixed to the slide bar includes legs straddling said arm to preclude rotation of the slide bar relative to the bracket member.

7.A gripping and pulling device comprising in combination, a bracket member including a mounting plate having a bearing, an elongate non-rotative slide bar reciprocable in the bearing of the bracket member, and a primary clamp jaw fixed at one end of the slide bar transversely thereof, a secondary clamp jaw to register with the primary jaw, means including a power cylinder on the mounting plate for selectively advancing and retracting the secondary clamp jaw relative to the primary jaw, a block fixed to the slide bar for movement therewith, and a latch element on said block, a co-operative latch element on the mounting plate to releasably engage the latch element first mentioned upon movement of the slide bar longitudinally, a spring operative to constantly urge the slide bar to a limit of reciprocation at which the latch elements engage for holding the slide bar in cocked position, with the primary jaw withdrawn from the secondary jaw, so that manual disengagement of the latch elements releases and trees the slide bar for movement under the power of the spring, to advance the primary jaw into engagement with the secondary jaw, the power cylinder means being of suflicient power and stroke capacity to advance the secondary jaw against the primary jaw and to move the latter, with the slide bar, to the cocked position at which the latch elements re-engage and hold the slide bar against spring projection.

8. The device as set forth in claim 7, wherein the bracket member is elongated and has an end carrying pivot means for swivel mounting of the device upon a machine frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,430,226 Goodreau Sept. 26, 1922 2,319,377 Wallace et a1. May 18, 1943 2,400,140 Sargeson May 14, 1946 

